Occlumency Take 2
by jadewtch
Summary: Harry begs Dumbledore for a new Occlumency teacher. What happens when the Headmaster finally gives in? ONESHOT Harry/Draco


Plot: Harry begs for a different Occlumency teacher. He'll work with anyone, but how desperate is he really? Fluff/Romance.

Meant to be fairly soft. PG-13 One-shot

Disclaimer: Harry Potter & co. belong to JK Rowling. I'm only borrowing them for my sadistic pleasures.

Occlumency…Take 2

"Please, Headmaster," the boy begged almost on his knees in front of Professor Dumbledore. "Let me learn from anyone else but him. He just enjoys seeing me suffer."

Harry recalled the pounding headaches that remained after Snape finished ripping his memories out of his skull one by one. He refused to deal with that any longer.

"Now you know that Severus is the best one for this job."

"I know you're at least as good Sir. You can teach me. I'll work with anyone but the Greasy Git. Anyone at all," Harry pleaded.

"Please call him Professor, Harry."

"Fine. Professor Greasy Git then," he said sourly.

Dumbledore frowned, but Harry detected a glimmer of amusement in his twinkling blue eyes.

"You know I don't have the time to teach you properly, but I'll see about getting someone else. You'll be working with this person from now on though. I won't make any more changes. Is this acceptable?"

Harry sighed in relief. "Yes Sir, I'll work with anyone as long as it's not Snape."

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Harry walked into the classroom the next day to see Draco Malfoy sitting on Snape's desk.

Maybe he had gone into the wrong classroom, he thought. Dumbledore said to meet in the same place, and at the same time. He must be here waiting for Snape or something.

"Malfoy," he spat hoping he would leave before his teacher arrived.

"Well, about time you got here Potter. I don't have all night to waste on your pitiful arse."

"No way in hell," Harry said, standing stiffly in the doorway. He didn't need to learn Occlumency that badly anyway, he thought. "I'd rather be dragged through the Forbidden Forest naked by a Hippogriff."

"I don't want to know about your disgusting fantasies Potter."

"You can't possibly think I'd allow myself to be taught by _you_?" Harry spat out the last word as if it was something nasty and disgusting.

"Feel free to leave, but I'll be more than happy to give you a detention for it," said Malfoy sounding annoyingly superior, and way too pleased with the idea.

"Look here ferret face, you can't…"

"I can, and I will. I'm a prefect remember?" Draco showed off his badge. "Just call it one of the perks of getting roped into this job."

"Do it then," he said and turned on his heel, slamming the door loudly behind him.

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"Canary creams, licorice wands, chocolate frogs…" Harry listed the names of any candy he could think of, trying to get in to see Dumbledore. There must have been some mistake with the lessons. He'd get it straightened out.

Taking the stairs to the Headmaster's office two by two, he reached the top quickly. Panting he opened the door, and saw Dumbledore sitting at his desk, eyes twinkling as usual.

"Hello Harry," the older wizard said, gesturing toward a chair. "How can I help you? Shouldn't you be in your Occlumency lesson with Mr. Malfoy?"

"Sir," said Harry wondering if the old coot had finally lost all his marbles. "I won't work with Malfoy. There must be some mistake. He's a Death Eater! He'll tell Voldemort everything he knows."

"I can assure you that Mr. Malfoy is completely trustworthy."

"But Sir, we're enemies…"

"Don't worry my boy; anything Mr. Malfoy learns will be kept in the strictest of confidences."

"But…" Harry said looking for an escape.

"Now Harry, you told me you'd work with whomever I chose. Isn't that correct?"

Harry nodded in defeat.

"Very well then, sleep well," Dumbledore said and dismissed him.

Harry walked up to his dorms swearing that no one would ever know about this. As far as they were concerned he was still taking lessons with Snape. He didn't need to listen to Ron and Hermione complain on top of everything. Maybe if he ignored the whole situation it would go away.

He trudged reluctantly into the classroom for the next scheduled Occlumency training. Malfoy was sitting in the same spot as before nearly grinning in anticipation.

Power hungry bastard thought Harry. He's getting such a kick out of this.

"Well, let's get on with it," he said shortly, glaring at the other boy.

"Impatient Potty?" Malfoy smirked. "I don't know why you have to learn this, and I don't care. I'm stuck here with you, so we're going to do everything my way. Rule one is you do whatever I say. There are no other rules. Understand?"

"Look Malfoy, I don't know who the hell you think you are…"

"Detention with Filch tomorrow."

"What the hell? You fucker if you think I'm going to…"

"Two detentions. Want to try for three?" Draco smirked, he was enjoying this. He couldn't get out of teaching the classes. Snape had blackmailed him into doing it, when he found him writing love notes during class. The Professor told him flatly that the whole school would know about it in 24 hours if he didn't do this. He'd had to stop that from happening.

He had searched the whole room for the note, but it was very well hidden. He wondered momentarily if Snape had it hidden in his underwear.

Draco comforted himself with the thought that if he was stuck here he could at least make Potter miserable.

"Goddamn bastard," Harry mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Harry gritted his teeth. "What do you want me to do?"

"Get over here and we'll start," he said shortly. He grinned evilly. This was going to give him so much material to humiliate Potter with. He was almost rubbing his hands with glee.

Harry flinched at the look on the Ferret's face. There was no way he'd let Draco Malfoy read his private thoughts.

"Legilimens," said Malfoy out of the blue.

Harry winced, and threw his hands up to grab his head. Damn, Malfoy, he hadn't given him any warning. He should have expected it from the git.

_Memories began to flood into his mind. He was about six years old, and Uncle Vernon had ordered him to make breakfast. He was brining Dudley a plate full of eggs, when he tripped. The plate fell onto the floor breaking into pieces, and spilling scrambled eggs everywhere._

"_Boy! Can't you do anything right? How dare you ruin Dudley's breakfast? You should have died with your parents in that car crash so we wouldn't have to put up with your sloppiness."_

"_Sorry Uncle, I didn't mean to."_

"_Don't talk back to me you freak!" _

_Uncle Vernon slapped him across the face, and knocked him onto the floor. Pulling himself up into a sitting position his uncle slapped him again across the other cheek, splitting his lip. Falling onto the broken plate, his hands were cut up by the sharp pieces. _

"_Get into your cupboard, and don't think you'll be coming out anytime soon!" _

"_Yes Sir," said Harry hanging his head and slowly making his way to the cupboard under the stairs. _

Draco broke the spell, and Harry lay gasping on the ground. His knees were bruised, having hit the stone floor harshly when he fell. Damn, that hurt almost as much as it did the first time he experienced it.

Draco stared at him for a moment surprised. What about all the rumors that Potter lived like a king? It seemed he was more of a house elf. He looked at the other boy. Potter the House Elf, his housemates were going to love this.

Harry climbed to his knees and looked at Malfoy. "You could have given me some warning asshole."

"What fun would that be?" smirked Malfoy. "Ready to try again?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, get up off the ground. What are you waiting for?" he asked when Harry stay there for a moment.

"But…"

"But what? Don't make me give you another detention Potter."

Harry glared, and climbed to his feet, not willing to give Malfoy the satisfaction.

Draco raised his wand, and then paused. Were those Potter's real memories? He had thought that the boy lived like a king. He almost felt bad about using this against him…almost.

He grinned. Let's see what other juicy gossip there is in his head, he thought.

"Ready?" he asked this time.

Harry raised his wand. "Occlude!"

"Legilimens," Malfoy said in response.

Harry dropped to his knees again, the pain insignificant compared to what was flowing through his skull.

_It was Dudley's eighth birthday. Aunt Petunia stood in front of him with a frown on her face. Slapping him hard she said in a cold tone, "How dare you ask if you can go to Duddiekins's Birthday Party? We don't want people to know we have a freak like you in the house. You can spend the day in your cupboard, and if you don't make a sound, maybe we'll let you clean up."_

"_Yes, Aunt," he said looking down at his feet. Crawling into his cupboard he spent the day playing with the few broken toys that he considered his own_.

Once more Harry was pulled from the memory. His knees were throbbing in pain. The second fall had added more bruising to what was already there. He could see a visit to Madam Pomfrey in his future. Pulling himself together he noticed Malfoy looking at him curiously.

Draco wasn't quite as amused anymore. Harry's relatives were cruel and degrading. No matter how much he wanted to see the Golden Boy brought low, this was beyond anything he could imagine. He shuddered at the thought of it happening to him.

"Potter, are those your real memories?" he asked, unable to stop himself.

"No," Harry replied sarcastically. His head was beginning to hurt as well. "I was captured by aliens and they altered my memories after performing strange experiments on me."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"Of course they're my real memories Ferret. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun spreading them around school tomorrow."

Draco looked at him with a cold expression. "Get out of here Potty, the lesson is over."

Harry limped out the door when he heard Malfoy call out behind him. "Practice your meditation, and you'll do better next time."

That almost seemed…nice, thought Harry. He shook his head. It must have been his imagination.

Harry lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. He had just come from the infirmary, and his knees were good as new, although Madam Pomfrey had wanted to know what happened. He told her that he tripped over a chair. He was tempted to stay in his dorm all day tomorrow. No doubt the rumor mill would be abuzz with all the information Malfoy had picked out of his head.

He woke to Ron shaking him harshly. "Wha….?" he mumbled still half asleep.

"Come on. Are you going to sleep all day? We'll be late to breakfast."

Harry remembered everything from the night before. "Well now that you mention it…" he started when he was yanked out of bed.

Trudging toward the showers he got washed and dressed reluctantly. Looking in the mirror, he noticed that there were dark circles under his eyes. He had spent more of the night worrying than he had sleeping.

"What's wrong with you this morning mate?" Ron asked sticking his head into the bathroom.

"Nothing Ron, I'll be right down." Harry straightened his robes, and decided to take things as they came. Maybe Malfoy would be decent and keep everything to himself.

Yeah right, he thought sarcastically. The day Malfoy is decent is the day Voldemort dances the can-can in a pink tutu.

Hermione was waiting for them in the common room. She and Ron looped their arms together and they all walked down to eat.

Harry sat down at the table he looked around and waited for someone to say something, but the only sound he heard was the usual buzz of voices. He stared across the hall at Malfoy in surprise. The Slytherin avoided his eyes and spent breakfast talking to his classmates. Harry frowned and wondered if Malfoy was going to blackmail him into something later.

Their next class was potions, and Harry entered the room nervous and tense, but relaxed when the only insults thrown were the usual crap.

He walked down the hall to the potions classroom for next lesson two days later, with more questions than answers. He wondered if that prat would explain anything. Malfoy was annoying enough to evade questions just to bug him.

Malfoy sat in his usual spot when Harry walked in. "Why didn't you tell anyone about our last session?" he asked.

"You Gryffindors sure are blunt aren't you?" he said. "Would you like it better if I had?"

"Of course not, but I find it hard to believe you did it for my welfare," Harry said somewhat sarcastically. "Did someone bind you to silence or something? Offer you money maybe?"

"Amazingly enough, no. I just didn't see the point of discussing your pitiful upbringing with anyone. You aren't worth that much of my time," he gave Harry a condescending look.

"I don't need your pity, Malfoy," Harry snarled.

"You sure won't get any tonight. So let's get started."

"Legilimens," he called, pointing his wand at Harry who barely had enough time to counter. His attempt to throw Malfoy from his mind proved useless, and he slumped back into a chair. Much better than falling on my knees, he thought. Cradling his head in his arms he tried to put up some barriers against Malfoy's intrusion into his head.

_A unicorn lay dead on the ground. Crouched over it knelt a creature that could barely be called a man. It was drinking the silver blood that spilled from the pure white animal. Raising its head the person looked back to where he was standing. A scorching pain flared through the scar on his forehead and he moved to run. _

Draco's eyes were wide in understanding. He remembered that terrifying night in the Forbidden Forest when they had detention with that disgusting half giant.

_The invasion into his mind continued. Harry crawled under a trap door situated between the legs of an enormous three headed dog. _

_A giant chessboard lay before him. _

"_Sometimes in chess you need to sacrifice pieces," said Ron from beside him, as one of the pieces swept him from the board. Looking over he saw the body of his best friend lying in a crumpled heap. _

_He saw Professor Quirrel standing there unwrapping his turban. Harry stared in terror as he saw the face on the back of the man's head. He staggered as a shooting pain pierced his head. The Mirror of Erised stood off to the left. _

"_Use the boy," hissed a voice from the back of the Professor's skull. _

_Thinking he was about to die, he touched Quirrel's face with his hands to push him away, and the man disintegrated, as he passed out._

Malfoy cancelled the spell and looked at Potter. He was sitting slumped in a chair in front of him with sweat beading on his brow.

"You're hopeless Potter. Are you sharing a brain with Weasel or something? At least _try_ to block me out."

Harry glared at Malfoy without bothering to respond. He was still busy catching his breath.

Draco grabbed Potter's hand and pulled him over to a mat he had set up behind Snape's desk.

"What the hell is this?" Harry asked, as Malfoy shoved him down to the floor.

He started to get back up when Malfoy said, "Stay right there Golden Boy. You're supposed to do everything I say, remember?"

Harry started to climb onto his knees. "Look Ferret, I don't know what you have in mind here but…"

"Keep your perverted mind out of my pants for a moment Potty. I'm going to teach you to meditate, since you can't be bothered to practice on your own."

"Don't be sick Malfoy. The last place my mind would ever be is in your pants," Harry denied, admitting silently to himself that Draco was quite good looking. Too bad he was a complete and total asshole.

"Whatever you say," the Slytherin replied in a tone that implied he clearly didn't believe him. "Now make yourself comfortable."

Sitting across from Harry he crossed his legs and watched as the brunette imitated the position.

"Ok, clear all the thoughts from your mind until it's totally blank. That should be easy enough for you."

Harry opened his eyes and glared at Malfoy, "If you can't be helpful I'm just going somewhere else. I don't need to listen to your rude nasty comments."

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"What?" asked Harry thinking he had misheard.

"I said, I'm sorry."

Harry nodded, and closed his eyes once more.

"Alright, once your mind is clear, try and put up barriers in your mind. I'm going to count to one hundred. See if you can block out the sound of voice."

Draco began counting in his smooth cultured voice. He varied the momentum of the numbers so that Harry would have a harder time tuning him out.

Drifting a bit while he counted, his mind went through the images he had pulled from Harry's head. He couldn't imagine the other horrors the beautiful boy sitting across from him had buried in his mind. Having heard some of the stories from his father, he knew they couldn't be good.

As he reached one hundred, he smiled at the look of peace on the Gryffindor's face, and wanted to brush some of the strands of messy hair off his forehead. He was sure that it wouldn't be appreciated, especially from an enemy.

"How did it go?" he asked when he finished.

"I think I managed it once you reached the high eighties. You were just a hum in the back of my head. Is that what it's supposed to be like?"

"Yes, that's good."

"Too bad I can't do it whenever you talk."

"Look, I'm trying to be polite here…"

"Yeah right. So says the man ripping through my memories," said Harry angrily. "You're the last person I want slithering through my most personal thoughts."

"Like you had that many better options. If you'd just practice like you're supposed to instead of being a lazy ass then you wouldn't have me_slithering through your head_," Draco sneered.

"If only Dumbledore…"

"Yeah well he didn't, so I'm stuck with your sorry ass." Before the argument could go any further, Draco raised his wand and said, "Ready? Legilimens!"

_Draco saw Harry whispering open in parseltongue to a snake in the girls' bathroom. _

_Then Ginny lay on the floor ahead of him in a crumpled heap. Running forward he saw that she was barely breathing. In a panic he tried to revive her when he saw the image of a boy coming from the book. _

_The letters of his name rearranged themselves, and Harry knew who was really standing in front of him. _

_An enormous basilisk slithered toward him, while he stood there wand in hand, when a phoenix swooped in and pecked its eyes out. The sorting hat fell in front of him, and he pulled the sword of Gryffindor from it. He shoved the sword up through the roof of its mouth and into its skull. Suddenly he was filled with a blinding white pain as a fang was shoved through his shoulder, and the poison began to course through him. _

_Harry finally managed to shove Draco from his mind, as the Sorting Hat whispered into his mind, "You would have done well in Slytherin…"_

Harry opened his eyes to see Malfoy staring at him. His head was starting to throb like it always did during these sessions.

"What?" he asked, somewhat annoyed that the other boy was staring at him like some strange creature in a zoo.

"Slytherin?" he whispered.

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, don't tell Ron."

"Like I'd ever speak with Weasley willingly," he sneered. "So how did you end up as a Gryffindork?"

Harry gave the blonde a look and said, "Well I met this nasty git on the train, and he managed to sound like a pretentious asshole. He also insulted the first friends I ever had so I decided anywhere was better than where he was."

Draco actually blushed at that. Harry was busy staring at this new development when he said somewhat sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I was pretty rude."

Harry's jaw dropped open. "Who are you, and what have you done to the real Draco Malfoy?"

"I am the real one stupid," said Draco. "I've just grown up over the years."

"Not so much it seems," Harry said, commenting on the insult.

Draco gave a short laugh and said, "Well, it's gotten comfortable arguing with you all the time. Being friends might not be nearly as much fun."

"I might not mind trying," Harry said softly, and looking down thinking that Malfoy would make fun of him for even saying it.

A pale white hand was shoved under his nose. "Truce?"

Harry stared at the hand like it might reach out and bite him. Taking hold of it cautiously he smiled, "Ok."

"You did really well on the last try," said Draco. "Are you up for one more?"

Harry thought about it. His headache had faded somewhat. "Alright, let's get it over with." Readying himself he said, "Occlumens."

_The last task of the Triwizard Tournament was in progress, and he and Cedric Diggory went to grab the cup. Feeling the pull of a portkey he found himself in an old cemetery. _

_Climbing to his feet, he heard a voice whisper, "Kill the spare." And Cedric fell to the ground. _

_Tears in his eyes, he struggled as he was bound to a gravestone, and his arm was cut open. In terror he looked into the red eyes of Voldemort, as he was returned from the grave. _

"_For a proper duel you'll need to bow to me," commanded the voice seeping from the snakelike face in front of him. _

_Refusing Harry stood firm, and glared at the Dark Lord._

"_Imperio," hissed Voldemort._

_A voice whispered in his mind. Go on, bow. It would be so easy to just do it. Go ahead. "I won't!" he yelled, throwing off the curse._

_He found himself on the ground, screaming in the grip of the Cruciatus curse._

_Hands pulled him up, and forced him to bow. _

_His wand pointed at Voldemort he yelled a basic spell as the creature facing him cast the killing curse. The wands connected, and Harry watched as ghosts began to filter out of Voldemort's wand._

The Legillimency spell lifted, and he found himself pulled into the arms of Draco Malfoy. He had been so caught up in the memories that he hadn't even been able to make an attempt to deflect the spell. Harry threw his arms around the other boy. He didn't care that it was his enemy of five years. Holding on tightly he sobbed into his shoulder.

"Shhh...Harry it's ok," whispered Draco rubbing circles on his back. "I think we've had enough for tonight. Come on I'll bring you back up to your Gryffindorks."

That garnered a slight smile from the other boy. "I'm sorry I messed up your robes Draco."

"Don't worry about it. That's what house elves are for."

"Don't let Hermione hear you say that," Harry said as a light blue vial was pressed into his hand. "What is it?" he asked looking at it suspiciously.

"Headache potion."

"Thanks," Harry said downing it on the spot. He handed the empty vial back to Draco who placed it in the sink.

Draco sat on the edge of his bed that night thinking. He was wearing his green silk pajamas and the material was smooth against his skin, but he didn't notice. His mind was on Harry. He wasn't sure when the other boy had stopped being Potter, but he remembered that he had called the brunette that at least once tonight. Hopefully he hadn't noticed.

The Gryffindor had been through horrors he couldn't even begin to imagine. Ok, maybe he could imagine, but he didn't want to. He clenched his hands and felt the nails dig through his skin. How could he have been so cruel all these years? He had been ripping open all of Harry's wounds with each sneering comment. He wasn't sure he could go through another lesson. He could see how it hurt Harry every time they practiced, and he didn't think he could do it anymore.

When had his feelings changed? He wasn't sure, but did know that Snape would kill him if they didn't continue. Or rather, Draco would wish he was dead. Draco slid into bed and pulled up the covers, trying to think of a better way to teach Occlumency to the hopeless.

Harry sat in the common room after his lesson. Ron had tried to talk to him quite a few times, but he was so distracted that his answers were barely coherent.

"Are you ok, Mate?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine Ron," Harry smiled. "I've just got something on my mind that's all."

"No shit," he replied and went to play exploding snap with Seamus.

Draco had held him that night while he cried all over him, thought Harry. The memory of Cedric's death had pulled up so many emotions that he couldn't help himself. He expected Malfoy to take great pleasure in seeing him brought low. Malfoy lived to cause him misery. He thought back to the incident with some embarrassment. He had called him Draco, hadn't he? But if his memory was correct, Draco had called him Harry as well.

He tried to pull up some of the loathing he felt for the Slytherin, and found that there was none. Draco had been his nasty argumentative self for a lot of the evening, but he had also been kind, and understanding, if those sentiments could ever be applied to Draco Malfoy.

He remembered peeking at his rival through his eyelashes while they had done the meditation exercise. There had been a content smile resting on his face. It was a very beautiful face when it wasn't curled into a sneer.

Harry wondered what it would be like to go on a date with Malfoy. He didn't think it would be anything like the few dates he had gone on with Seamus. The Irish boy was too bouncy and excitable for his taste.

With a sigh he picked up his bag and walked upstairs to bed.

Harry walked into their third lesson cautiously, unsure of what he'd find. Draco jumped off the desk, and walked forward to meet him with a smile.

"Come on Potter," he said. "I've got some new ideas for today."

"New ideas?" asked Harry, not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"It's ok, trust me."

At this Harry pursed his lips, and made no comment. His trust was not earned easily.

Draco sighed internally at the look, but supposed it had been the inevitable response. He led Potter over to the mat on the floor and asked Harry to sit.

Harry unbuttoned his robe, and threw it over the desk. He was wearing Dudley's jeans as usual, and the button down shirt he wore to school hung loosely around his hips. Hermione had shrunk his pants down so they weren't falling off, but there was still a tear over his left knee where the material was fraying. Another small square rip was high on the opposite thigh. It had ripped when Dudley had shoved him into a pile of jagged aluminum pieces that were stacked by the house for recycling. The damage to his thigh had been fairly bad. Aunt Petunia had even debated brining him to the hospital because he wouldn't stop bleeding on her floor.

"What are you doing?" Draco squeaked, when he saw Harry take off his robe. He cleared his throat and stared. He looked really good. Draco never noticed how good he actually looked since most of him was usually hidden under loose school robes.

Harry blushed at his scrutiny. He stammered, "Uh…well…My robes were too warm the last time, so I…um…thought I'd take them off."

Draco thought about it. His robes were also fairly warm so he stood and threw them on top of Harry's.

This time it was Harry's turn to stare. Draco was the model for perfectly fitted and tailored clothes. He had on his school shirt, but it was tucked into a pair of dark grey slacks. They hung around his hips and butt making him look even sexier, and Harry momentarily wondered how he would look without them.

He squirmed uncomfortably and asked, "So what's the plan for today?"

"We're going to work on some more of those meditation techniques so you can block me more easily. Relax, and I'll start with the counting one from yesterday."

Draco began counting, and Harry closed his eyes. Clearing his mind of thoughts that were filled with images of the other boy in those grey slacks, rather than the numbers he was saying. Then he began to build walls in his mind. He saw them as large stone barriers similar to the walls in Hogwarts. Once they were there he stood behind them, and didn't realize that Malfoy had finished until he felt him shaking his arm.

"I thought maybe you fell asleep on me," Draco grinned.

Harry laughed, "Nope, but I think I'm getting better at this."

"Ok, we'll try something harder. I'm going to tell you a story this time. Try to block me out again."

Draco began. "Once upon a time there was a little boy, who lived in a big house with his mother and father. They both loved him very much, and tried to give him whatever he wanted. His mother would tell him stories about a very special little boy just like him. The little boy hoped that someday he would be able to meet the person his mother told him about."

At that point Harry's head jerked up and stared at Malfoy. "What?"

"Potter, you're supposed to be concentrating."

"You can't be serious. You're saying stuff like that, and you want me to meditate?"

"Honestly, you can be so thick. That's why this is harder. I'm just making it up as I go along anyway."

"Fine," said Harry, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. He closed his eyes once more, and Malfoy went on with the story.

"So where was I? Oh yeah, I remember," Draco settled himself and continued. "Time passed, and the little boy went to school. It was a very special school, created especially for boys and girls like him. On his way there he finally met the boy from his mother's stories. Unfortunately things didn't work out, and the special boy didn't want anything to do with him, much to his disappointment."

At this Harry gritted his teeth and told himself it was just a story. He pulled his barriers up; only to have them crumble one after another when Draco went on.

"The little boy grew, and one day he discovered that his father was under the control of an evil monster. The monster would come to his house, and command his father to do horrible things, until he wasn't much more than a monster himself. The boy watched this and was very upset. He wanted his old father back, but he was scared and didn't know what to do. He knew if he didn't do something he would end up under the monster's control as well."

Harry slammed his palm down making a soft thwack against the mat. It wasn't nearly as pleasing as the bang his hand would have made against a hard surface, but it did make Draco pause in his story.

"This isn't working," he growled, and got up. He started to pace back and forth. "How can you tell me that stuff and expect…" He trailed off.

"Harry…" the Slytherin began.

"Don't. Just don't," Harry ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I'm leaving. I've had enough." He grabbed his bag and robes off the desk and headed for the door.

Draco watched as the door slammed shut behind him.

Harry stormed up the stairs. How dare that git do something like that? Then he says that he's making it up all along. Even if he was, he knows I can't help wishing it were true. What a jerk.

Well, that wouldn't happen again. He was going to go up to his room to meditate, and by the time the next session rolled around he would be able to ignore anything that Slytherin snake said, as well as block out any Legilimency.

Draco sighed. He hadn't expected that the story would upset Harry so much. He thought that the Gryffindor might know it was true, despite what he said. When he came up with this idea he thought it might help with the meditating, but he had to admit that he also wanted Harry to know something about his life in the same way he knew about Harry's.

Clearly it hadn't been such a good idea. Next session they would go back to practicing the same way they had started.

Draco waited for Harry to show up for their next session. It wouldn't have surprised him if the Gryffindor didn't show up at all. He stormed through the door, ten minutes late with a frown on his face.

"After last time, I didn't think you were going to show up," Draco said softly.

"Well I did. So let's get started."

"Fine."

Harry stalked over and threw himself into the nearest available chair. "Whenever you're ready."

Draco cast the spell, and saw a few images from the battle at the Department of Mysteries, before Harry's barriers came up and threw him out with a resounding slam. He cast once more, and couldn't pull any images at all this time.

He cast once more when Harry wasn't expecting it, and this time he couldn't pick up anything.

Draco smiled, "That's fantastic Harry. I guess you've been practicing."

Harry glared at him, "I wanted to be able to ignore any garbage that spews out of your mouth, Malfoy."

Draco pulled up a chair so he could sit across from Harry. "Look, I'm really sorry about everything that happened during the last lesson. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I find that hard to believe. I bet you got a kick out of it. Poor Harry Potter, let's feed him some story and then laugh our asses off when he hopes that it might be true. Well, mission accomplished, and now that I can block you out, I think we're done here."

Harry stood up and went to walk out of the room, when he heard Draco's voice from behind him. "It was all true."

Harry turned. "What?"

"Everything I said was true, the whole story. I wanted you to know about me."

"But you said…"

"I know. I wasn't sure how you'd react."

Harry walked back to where Draco was standing. "Draco, how did you end up getting stuck teaching me anyway?"

Draco blushed and looked away. "Er…Snape caught me writing love notes during Potions class."

Harry grinned, "To Pansy Parkinson maybe, or Millicent Bulstrode?"

"God no, I wouldn't get close to them with a ten foot barge pole. Actually, it was to a boy."

"I bet your father would have loved that if he found out. So who was it? Blaise Zabini? Just tell me it wasn't Crabbe or Goyle."

Draco made a gagging noise. "No, definitely not them," he stepped closer to Harry. "If you must know, they were to you."

Before he could react Draco grabbed him, and kissed him. Harry stood there in shock for a moment, and then wrapped his arms tightly around the other boy. Draco's hands threaded themselves into Harry's already messy hair and pulled him forward to deepen the kiss. He nipped his lower lip softly, and Harry opened his mouth enjoying the way their tongues battled for dominance.

Soon they were both breathless, and passion danced in Harry's eyes. He pulled away and said, "That was amazing."

"You don't mind?" Draco said cautiously.

"Not at all. I quite like you, but you always end up acting like an arrogant git, and ruin everything." Harry brushed his fingers through Draco's soft hair. "You know, I'm doing really, really badly in this Occlumency stuff," he smiled sexily. "I think we're going to have to add some extra sessions to the ones I already take so we can bring me up to speed."

"Definitely, I couldn't agree more," said Draco, and pulled him forward for another kiss.

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